Here are some of the letters our members are writing to local news outlets.

Conflicting and Missing Issues October, 2018 Wayne Borchardt

Jeff Keicher’s platform contains conflicting issues and does not address what is important to District 70 constituents.

Among the top concerns for low-income and middle-class workers is rising healthcare costs, increasing health insurance premiums and prescription drug costs. Our federal government has publicly stated its preference to pass healthcare issues on to the states. This issue is not only missing from Keicher’s platform, his big insurance allies want to stick it to our families: higher premiums, denied coverage and increased insurance profits. He wants to slash care by eliminating protections for people with pre-existing conditions and block lifesaving breast cancer screenings for at-risk women.

Restoring fiscal stability and balancing the budget without raising taxes conflicts with him wanting to rebuild Illinois’ infrastructure. Repairing roads and bridges, sidewalks, sewer systems, and curbs; burying cable; upgrading utilities; and protecting the grid from cyber-attacks is very expensive (hundreds of millions). The money will have to come from somewhere (middle-class).

His platform includes protecting taxpayers and not raising taxes but does not include addressing the state’s massive debt and horrible credit rating. How does he plan to resolve this financial nightmare?

He wants to create jobs but makes no mention of a living wage. What kind of jobs? Jobs paying $8/hour mean people will have to work 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet.

Paul Stoddard understands these issues and has a plan to solve our state’s problems. Please vote for Paul Stoddard to save our state.

Vote for Paul Stoddard on November 6 October, 2018 John Gedney

I am writing because I want people to take notice of Paul Stoddard who is running for Illinois State Representative for District 70. He worked as a Professor at NIU in DeKalb and earned his Ph. D. from Northwestern University. But more importantly he has been involved with the community in a number of ways and has achieved results. As Chair of the DeKalb County Board’s finance committee he has balanced the budget three consecutive years. Prior to that he worked across the aisle and was able to get the minority party more involved in the governing process by giving them control of several committees.

NIU is one of the largest employers and economic drivers in the 70th District. However, not just NIU, but all universities in Illinois are struggling for two main reasons. The state is years behind in providing its share of funding at a time when student enrollment is declining. Having worked at a university, Paul Stoddard appreciates the value of a quality education, understands the university system, and is uniquely qualified to address these issues.

Paul Stoddard wants to reform Springfield, reinvest in Illinois and rework the tax structure. He wants to replace gerrymandered districts with non-partisan maps and push for local funding of campaigns to reduce outside money and political influence.

It is refreshing to have a candidate that is willing to listen and work with members of both parties. Vote for Paul Stoddard on November 6.

Stooping to New Lows October, 2018 Wayne Borchardt

Trump is getting so desperate, he’s been making up stuff. Since his tax plan has failed those of low income and the middle class, he’s been telling crowds about an additional tax plan he is working on. Members of his own party don’t believe him.

In North Dakota, Native American tribes are dealing with a law requiring voters to provide a form of identification that includes their legal name, current street address and date of birth. The problem is that Native Americans living on reservations or in rural areas that lack street addresses often use P.O. boxes.

In Georgia, the Republican Secretary of State had 53,000 voter registrations put on hold because minor mismatches on documents like their driver’s licenses violate the state’s new “exact match” requirement.

To strengthen our democracy, we should promote inclusive elections where we remove hurdles and make it easy to vote. Unfortunately, five Supreme Court members do not seem to agree with this sentiment. In upholding, by a 5-4 vote, Ohio’s practice of purging its voter rolls, the conservative (Republican) members of the Court showed they care more about protecting state authority over elections than the individual, fundamental right to vote.

Black seniors in Georgia were pulled off their “Get Out the Vote” bus. Gwinnett County, Georgia Republicans tossed out hundreds of minority absentee ballots. The county now faces two federal lawsuits and accusations from voting rights activists.

Kinzinger votes to please Trump, not constituents. Sosnowski infrequently appears before his constituents but on October 16, participated in a forum where his people rudely heckled and badgered his opponent, Angie Bodine, when it was her turn to speak.

We need new leadership, honesty, professionalism and results in this country. Vote for Sara Dady and Angie Bodine. They will represent their districts.

AARP Alerts Seniors October, 2018 Wayne Borchardt

This midterm election is one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime. Voters 55 and older, in particular, should be concerned about: Shoring up social security, rising drug prices, Medicare funding, Medicaid, health insurance and healthcare costs, lower retirement taxes, more help for care-givers, and fixing pension shortfalls. I will add one more issue, womens’ rights. Democratic candidates are running positive campaigns that address these issues in order to improve people’s lives and make things more affordable.

Kinzinger cares more about special interest groups than helping his constituents. He voted for the dangerous American Health Care Act which passed by a razor-thin margin (217 to 213). This bill gives billions to special interests while sticking ordinary Americans with huge premium hikes. It includes an “age tax” that would force Americans age 50-64 to pay up to $13,000 more for health care. It weakens Medicare and removes protections for people with pre-existing conditions. The House should not have passed this bill.

Kinzinger voted for this bill. He put special interest groups before his constituents. His vote helped weaken Medicare and removed protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
We need to vote him out of office now.

Social Security & Medicare September, 2018 Wayne Borchardt

I received a letter from Adam Kinzinger claiming he does not support cuts to Social Security and Medicare. However, what he does not say tells a different story. In bold print his letter states, “To be clear, I do not support any changes to Social Security or Medicare for retirees, or those nearing retirement.” In other words, those already or are about to receive Social Security and Medicare benefits will not be affected but those under some age yet to be determined (probably 55) will lose out. How can these people save enough for retirement? What happens to the money these people have already put into these programs through payroll deduction? Voters need to remember that you have paid into these programs since you began working.

On several occasions, Trump has publicly announced he will get rid of Social Security and Medicare in his second term. Kinzinger will vote to eliminate these programs in order to please Trump. Unless we vote Kinzinger out of office now, people under 60 need to worry about these programs not being there for them and those over 60 need to worry about these programs dying a slow death by not being adequately funded due to fewer people paying into them. The number of senior citizens filing for bankruptcy has increased 200% in the past year. Can you imagine what it will be like if Social Security is discontinued? Vote for Sara Dady to save Social Security and Medicare.

Time For A Change September, 2018 Carolyn Tratnik

Illinois lawmakers are making full-time money for part-time work, according to an Illinois Policy Institute report. Lawmakers earn a base salary of $68,000 per year, the fifth-highest in the country, and more than double what their counterparts in Iowa and Indiana earn. Party leaders make an additional $27,000, assistant leaders get as much as $20,000 annually, while committee chairs get an additional $10,000. They also receive mileage allowances and $111 per diem payments while in session.

A July, 2016, Rock River Times article reported Joe Sosnowski’s total pay was $111,273.

Illinois lawmakers’ base salary for working legislative sessions that typically run from January through May, is more than twice the state’s per capita income of $30,019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Assembly Retirement System is funded at just 16% of the level needed to cover its liabilities. That pension is guaranteed, and the average retired member with at least 20 years of service receives $96,000 per year. This means taxpayers are bailing out the pension system with massive payments every year to keep it afloat. The average career legislator gets $2 million in pension benefits over a lifetime.

Our Illinois legislators have taken care of themselves, now voters have to ask themselves what have our legislators done for their constituents? With all that Sosnowski earns, he doesn’t meet with large groups of constituents via town hall meetings, forums or debates. Time for a change. Vote for Angie Bodine this Fall.

To The Editor August 2018 Diane Borchardt

Joe Sosnowski’s website lists his goals, two of which are the need to create more charter schools and reduce wasteful spending.

Sosnowski is very quick to bring up charter schools as the solution to improving our education system. Perhaps this is because he is a member of the Elementary and Secondary Charter School Policy Committee. What Sosnowski isn’t mentioning is that educational institutions are funded based on enrollment and implementing charter schools means a loss of finances for the traditional K-12 programs. Also, it is ironic that the same policymakers such as Sosnowski encourage school consolidation in order to promote fiscal efficiency and support charter school expansions. As a result, more small districts will be proliferated.

Sosnowski lists reducing wasteful spending as one of his goals. His goals are conflicted. Creating a charter school system results in more small districts. That is the problem.

As of July 1, 2017, there were 852 public school districts in Illinois, a state with 102 counties. 368 are elementary districts, 97 are high school districts 386 are unit districts and 1 Department of Juvenile Justice district. A number of these districts have only 1 or 2 schools in them. One would think that if Sosnowski was serious about reducing wasteful spending, he would be on a consolidation committee to reduce the number of school districts. Reducing the number of school districts would save Illinois tax payers hundreds of millions of dollars but policymakers like Sosnowski are too focused on what their political party wants.

Drain the Swamp August 2018 Kim Fisk

A recent poll reports that Congress has a 17% approval rating, less than half of President Trump’s approval rating. This means that only 17% of the voters believe Congress is doing a good job. Time to clean the House and give someone else a chance.

This year Americans are supposed to see an additional $4,000 in their paychecks. That’s what President Trump promised in the Fall. But the money is nowhere to be seen in the latest employment report.
One reason for this is too many low-paying jobs. Since the 2008 recession there have been a large number of low-wage jobs created. Many are in the retail sector which historically does not pay well. Even Amazon, one of this country’s most valuable companies, employees have a median income of $28,000 according to recent SEC filings.
A second reason is that low unemployment really isn’t. Although the official unemployment rate is below 4%, it discounts a large pool of people who are still out of the labor force and could re-enter under the right conditions.

Our Congressman is supposed to fight for this district, grow our economy, attract companies with good paying jobs, help us maintain and upgrade our infrastructure, obtain grants and more. The Western corridor (the 16th Congressional District) is stagnant. Whether you call it draining the swamp or cleaning house, it’s time for change in representation.

Wasteful Spending August 2018 Wayne Borchardt

Most or all of you recently received literature from Adam Kinzinger which states in small print “This mailing was prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense.” This literature is not a survey to get your opinion. This is campaign material sent out by Kinzinger at your expense. Regardless of your party affiliation, you are paying for Kinzinger’s campaign. This is deceitful, insulting to voters and a waste of taxpayer money which could be better spent.

The section labeled Government Survey is not a survey. I worked in Marketing Research for 40 years and can tell you his two questions do not constitute a survey. Kinzinger is gathering contact information for campaign purposes and doing so without your knowledge as evidenced by the identification number printed by Question 1. Responses are not anonymous. He will know exactly who you are and how you respond. This may be legal by government standards but is unethical by business standards. The American Marketing and Marketing Research Associations do not allow any deceitful methods regarding data or information gathering.

These deceptive and unethical practices as well as wasteful spending say a lot about Kinzinger’s character. He is not professional.

Kinzingers Cool New Camera Aug 2018 Wendy LaFauce, Belvidere

Recently, Rep. Adam Kinzinger posted shots from a security camera of a Sara Dady canvasser bringing campaign material to his home. According to the Dady campaign, the worker photographed the stop to prove he treated her opponent’s home like any other. Kinzinger believes there is something more. “The sketchiness was all caught on camera.” If the Dady campaign worker did something inappropriate why doesn’t Kinzinger release the whole video, not just selected frames? Congressman Kinzinger might be right though, it looks like something sketchy is going on.

In the Aug. 14 issue of Kankakee Daily Journal, reporter David Giuliani reports Congressman Kinzinger paid about $5,000 in campaign money to Alarm Detection Systems to install a security system. There is no record of if or where the system was installed. The Kinzinger campaign has not released any information about the installation.

Constituents give money to candidates because they believe in them, not for politicians to feather their own nest. If the security system was installed at the Kinzinger home, a campaign finance violation was committed. If it wasn’t installed at his home, an experienced politician like Kinzinger would be getting ahead of the story instead of hiding from it.

Congressman Kinzinger, where did you put that cool camera?

Consituents Come First August, 2018 Margaret Polli

There are two people running for State Representative in the 69th District. Angie Bodine works to improve constituents lives while Joe Sosnowski works to grab headlines, lower living standards, and put people at risk.

Sosnowski doesn’t want teachers to make more money nor does he want other voters to make a more livable wage. He wants people of any age to be able to buy firearms and bump stocks any time and from whomever they want. He does not want courts to be able to confiscate firearms from potentially dangerous people.

In May, 2018 Sosnowski voted NO to SB 2892, requiring increasing teacher salaries; voted NO to SB 3256, requiring 72 hour waiting period for guns; and voted NO to HB 2354, authorizing courts to confiscate firearms from potentially dangerous individuals.

In February, 2018 Sosnowski voted NO to HB 1465, establishing an age limit for purchase of assault-style weapons; voted NO to HB 1467, prohibiting bump stocks; voted NO to SB 1657, requiring a state-level license to sell firearms.

In July, 2017 Sosnowski voted NO to SB 6, establishing a budget for fiscal year 2017-2018; and in May, 2017, voted NO to SB 81, establishing a new minimum wage.

Finally, let’s not forget his headline grabbing stunts of wanting to make Chicago a separate state and wanting to legalize fireworks. Sosnowski needs to spend his time doing something productive that will directly benefit his constituents rather than looking out for himself and his party.

Keep the advisory referendum calling for Boone County not to follow some state gun laws off the November ballot

At the August 7th meeting of the Boone County Board’s Administrative and Legislative Committee, the Republican party of Boone County proposed the following advisory referendum be placed on the November ballot. The proposal goes before the full board, Wednesday, August 15th, 2018 at 6:30pm.
"Shall Boone County oppose any law restricting law-abiding gun owners from their Second Amendment rights as guaranteed by the US Constitution and to protect them from unconstitutional gun laws which have or may be passed by the Illinois General Assembly?"
As written this proposal might pass. Even though there is no legislation addressing guns pending before the IL Assembly at this time. The true purpose is to bring out voters in November who might not vote otherwise because they are disappointed in their party on a variety of other issues. While they may see short-term gains, Republicans will put the Board in a terrible bind.
If the referendum succeeds, the Boone County Board becomes the sole judge of which laws are constitutional. Which new laws do we follow, which one can we ignore? The political consequence of enforcing new gun laws that a loud minority rejects will be enormous. When Illinois takes Boone County to court demanding we apply the law, the legal cost could bankrupt us.
Your presence & your public comment is needed to prevent this referendum from ever leaving the Board meeting. Sometimes we need to do more than vote.
Attend the meeting or send comment by:
Wednesday, August 15th
6:30pm
County Board Room
1208 Logan Ave
Belvidere, IL 61008John Gedney
Boone County Democratic Central Committee. ChairBelvidere, IL

Absentee Adam July, 2018 Wayne Borchardt

This past week a group of LaSalle and Grundy county residents held the Illinois 16th District Community Forum. Sara Dady and Adam Kinzinger were invited and both agreed to participate. As you can imagine, these residents worked hard and spent a lot of money to put on this event. Approximately, 200 people showed up that evening to listen to what Sara Dady and Adam Kinzinger had to say. Well, Kinzinger never showed up. That’s right, he was invited, did not show up to the event, and no one called to say he would not be there. No one at his office knew where he was or what he was doing.

Sara Dady was there, spoke and took questions from the audience like the professional she is.

In the past, I have written about Kinzinger not wanting to face voters but not showing up for a planned event is the worst. People living in the 16th Congressional District deserve better than a Representative who ignores us, accepts money from special interest groups and then votes in their best interests, not ours. You can bet that voters will remember Kinzinger’s absence and lack of caring this November.

Published in the RRStar Online July, 2018 Don Barnes, Belvidere, IL

The Boone County Board needs to be more representative.

At the last Boone County Board meeting two new members to the Zoning Board of Appeals were appointed by a vote of 7-4. Sounds pretty straight forward, right? If you dig a little deeper you might not think so.

Board Chair Karl Johnson is well within is authority to name who ever he choses to the post, but the board also needs adequate time to review all of the candidates in order to represent us. In this instance there were 5 nominees but the board only received information on three of them and only a short time before the meeting. What’s really alarming is none of those 3 candidates were selected by the chairman. Why didn’t he include at least the names of the people he intended to nominate?

While Chairman Johnson’s picks, former county board chair Bob Wahlberg and former board member Brad Fidder, are known quantities we missed the chance to bring in new ideas and instead sent the message, “No need to apply if you aren’t part of the club.” The path Chairman Johnson chose for selecting new board members discourages citizens from taking an active part in their local government.

With the addition of members Wahlberg and Fidder 5 of the Zoning Board of Appeals members live in district 1, while the majority of the population live in district 3. Why would the chairman let the unique concerns of the largest district go unrepresented?

As residents of Boone County, we need to make our presence felt at county board meetings. Just being present lets your representative know you care about what he/she are doing AND how they are doing it.

Also, contact your board members and demand that a procedure be implemented allowing all board members ample time to review all candidates’ materials. For Boone County to compete in this state, the board can’t be a rubber stamp for any one person or always appointing from the same group.

Letter to The Editor, July, 2018 Kim Fisk

I hope fellow voters have noticed, as I have, our elected officials are always bringing up the importance of communicating with their constituents but none of them do. President Trump tweets outward but doesn’t listen to his advisors, and more locally Adam Kinzinger and Joe Sosnowski do not hold town hall meetings, take part in debates, speak in public or even take phone calls. We elect these people to office but they don’t listen to their constituents that voted them in office and actually aren’t even accessible. Last Fall, Joe Sosnowski attended a Republican Steak Fry fundraiser but stayed only long enough to eat his meal (about 20 minutes) and left without saying a word to the 120+ people in attendance. Joe’s campaign website states, “We may not always agree on every issue, but when it comes to basic constituent representation… everyone deserves the best”. “If elected as your State Representative, I will be available and accessible to address our region’s problems and needs.” He has held this office since 2010 (8 years). How can anyone believe Joe Sosnowski will make himself anymore available and accessible in the future than what he has been over the past 8 years?

What Is Our Representative Doing? July, 2018 Marilyn Spradling

Illinois farmers getting hit hard. Several countries have responded to Trump’s tariff increases with increases of their own. These retaliatory tariffs imposed by several countries are beginning to impact dairy, hog and corn farmers.

Last week, Republicans unveiled their 2019 proposed budget that calls for $537 billion in cuts to Medicare, $1.5 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and $4 billion in cuts to Social Security so all of us “ordinary people” can pay for the tax cuts they gave to corporations and the super wealthy.

Our government is in the middle of an administrative nightmare trying to reunite 3,000 children with their parents.

Our President continues with his name calling and has insulted just about every demographic group.

Our President has been alienating our allies while praising Putin, despite his meddling in our 2016 elections and causing havoc throughout Europe.

Has our Representative in Congress, Adam Kinzinger, stood up to fight for farmers, women, senior citizens, those living in poverty or any of his other constituents? The answer is NO. Kinzinger only shows up or says something when he wants our vote. He hasn’t been there for us, we shouldn’t be there for him this Fall. Either vote for his opponent or if you don’t want to do that, do not cast a vote for either candidate.

Reply to Chuck Sweeny, Rockford Register Star July,2018 Angie Bodine

Illinois needs real solutions July, 2018 Wendy LaFauce

Replace Kinzinger! June, 2018 From Wayne Borchardt

Rep. Adam Kinzinger has for the second time this year betrayed his constituents of the IL-16. Instead of voting for what is right for his district, he votes to please Donald Trump and Paul Ryan.

Last May, Adam Kinzinger voted in favor of the House Republican health plan. This plan was so terrible, the Senate did not consider it and eventually developed several versions of its own. This plan would have repealed major parts of Obama’s health law capping future funding for Medicaid and cutting tax increases for high-income families, health insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies. The bill included nearly $1 trillion in tax cuts over the next decade, most of which would have gone to the very wealthy. People making more than $1 million per year would have received tax cuts of more than $51,000 according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. This bill would have resulted in 24 million people losing their healthcare insurance coverage and those that would still have their coverage would find their premiums increase by 15%-20% according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Despite this bill not being in the best interest of his constituents, he voted for it anyway.

Recently, Adam Kinzinger voted in favor of the GOP tax plan. This plan will hurt the middle-class families of the 16th District but once again he votes party line with Trump and Ryan. Rep. Kinzinger has claimed that cutting taxes of the wealthiest 1% and US corporations will create new jobs. That is not true. The Presidents and CEOs of the largest companies have reported they will use those tax savings, not for job creation, but instead to pay out more in stock dividends. This plan increases the standard deduction but eliminates several itemized deductions used by the middle-class such as student loans but retains the private school tuition deduction used by the wealthiest. This tax plan introduces a new tax deduction for those owning their own private jet and it allows the wealthiest to keep more of their money by eliminating the inheritance tax. Finally, this tax plan will increase the national debt by $1.5 trillion that will be paid for by the middle-class, not the wealthiest 1% (whose wealth often resides offshore).

Rep. Kinzinger takes no initiative and simply does not care about the middle-class or his constituents, he only wants to impress Trump and Ryan. He goes out of his way to avoid interaction with the public. He has held only one town hall meeting in several years and would only take questions submitted prior to the meeting. Also, he gave a 10-minute meaningless speech at a recent Republican Steak Fry this past Fall and left immediately after. Such behavior demonstrates an elitist attitude.

In 2018, we have a chance to replace Rep. Kinzinger with someone that understands and will represent the middle-class working families of the 16th District. Let’s vote him out and vote in someone that will listen and take some initiative to get things done.

More Women Needed in Congress June, 2018 From Carolyn Tratnik

We have all heard about Trump’s envy and admiration of Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. He likes how their citizens do what they are told and sit at attention when in their presence. We have also seen how insensitive and inhumane this administration can be by separating children from their parents.

Now, our government wants to significantly decrease funding programs that we have contributed to our entire working years. The House GOP wants to decrease funding of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, which will significantly increase our out of pocket health care costs, lower the quality of health care services and significantly decrease our retirement security.

Trump is surrounding himself with “yes” men and a few token women. He lies about zero tolerance and separating children from their parents by blaming the Democrats and stating that only Congress can fix the situation, but yet he signed an executive order and the immediate situation was improved.

Women need to break up this group of “yes” men by electing more women to Congress and make this administration more humane and truthful. We need new people in Congress who will fight for their constituents instead of always bowing to Trump.

If we fail to break up this group of “yes” men, we might be heading down a path of dictatorship, because that is what Trump wants. Vote for Sara Dady and give her a chance to fight for the 16th District because U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger hasn’t and will not.

Immigration Policy June, 2018 From Wendy LauFauce

Our country needs to update and enforce an immigration policy that reflects the demands of the 21st century. However, creating new policies can make that very difficult job near impossible.

Currently, we have a situation at the border where children are being separated from their parents. Even if the children were being held in ideal conditions the traumatic separation of the children from their parent(s) alone will cause these young children short and long-term social and emotional harm. They made their dangerous journey wanting the freedoms and opportunities generations of immigrants risked their lives for, but we’ve begun to criminalize that dream. Even the most hard-line conservative knows many of these scarred children will eventually become American citizens. They will be in our school systems. Why create an ongoing social problem when keeping families together would alleviate much of the problem?

The other problem with how the current crisis is being handled is using human beings as bargaining chips. Changing or ending a policy to make a situation so much worse attempts to force many in Congress and the American people to accept conditions that are morally unacceptable. Putting extreme pressure on a business competitor forcing them to accept terms or go out of business is an accepted practice in the business world. However, when a leader is charged with protecting the very people he/she is using as pawns the leader has failed in his duties. The Constitution planned for such a leader. It created an equally powerful branch of government: Congress.

When Congress has members who do not have the political courage to stand for the values this country is based on, we must find replacements. In the 16th Congressional District of Illinois, we are fortunate to have an immigration lawyer, Sara Dady, running to replace our current congressman. In Dady we have a candidate who understands open borders are unacceptable and our immigration laws need to be rewritten. However, she also has the compassion to maintain the possibility of the dream of coming to America for a better life.

It is time to demand leadership that is both intelligent and compassionate. Leadership that puts the future of America at home and abroad before any one group or person’s political future.

Wants to Do What? June, 2018 From Wayne

Several years ago, Joe Sosnowski focused his legislative efforts on cutting in half the number of days Illinois residents could visit tax-exempt museums in Chicago for free. Now Sosnowski is urging Congress to make Chicago the 51st state. He is supposed to represent and help the people of his district and this is the best he can do? There is important work that needs to be done in his district and in the state and rather than take on those issues and resolve them, Joe wants to avoid them altogether and gerrymander state boundaries.

This idea would be an extremely large administrative undertaking and a much bigger expense. In case he slept through the discussions in Springfield regarding Illinois’ financial situation, the state owes $83 billion in pensions, $15.5 billion in bonds, and $54 billion in retiree health benefits. Illinois can’t and will not be able to afford this idea for a long time, so why bring it up?

Illinois’ population is 12.8 million, Chicago’s is 2.7 million. Cook County would still be Illinois’ most populated county and one of the most populated counties in the nation with 2,522,000. Why doesn’t he want to make Cook County the 52nd state? Populations are similar.

The real reason Sosnowski wants to gerrymander state boundaries is because the largest percentage of people leaving the state are from downstate counties. We need to get him out of office and bring in new leadership that will do something productive.